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Sunday, August 31, 2014

Is it time for Shayna Baszler to make her way to the WWE after getting TKOed in her fight with Bethe Correia. This was Baszler’s long awaited UFC debut after having fights cancelled on a couple occasions. Baszler was on the Ultimate Fighter on "Team Rousey" and lost to the eventual winner of the show Julianna Pena. That was the bad news for Baszler, but the good news was the friendship she formed with Ronda Rousey and joining up with her to train together. Baszler brought her love and passion for the WWE to Ronda Rousey’s house and this led to Ronda becoming a bigger fan of WWE and creating the four horsewomen.

Josh Barnett who has both fought in MMA and in a pro wrestling ring has trained Baszler for years. Baszler has been in videos with Ronda Rousey with the two working a pro wrestling match. Recently the WWE had the four horsewomen at Summerslam and rolled out the red carpet for the UFC’s Women’s Bantamweight Champion and her fellow four horsewomen Baszler included. Baszler herself talked about that experience being something she will never forget and said something to effect that a 10-year-old version of her would have thought the current her was pretty cool.

In addition, Baszler has had some training sessions with Natalya from the WWE which rumours are one might be featured on Total Divas this upcoming season. It seems all of the WWE have been fans of Ronda and the Horsewomen and while the WWE has no chance at getting Rousey in their ring anytime soon. Baszler on the other hand likely could have a credible match in a WWE ring tomorrow if need be. You can argue that she has done as much as she can in MMA and is never going to be any real threat at a title.

She took a wicked beating the second round of her fight last night, after most feeling, she won the first round. It makes some sense for her to take a shot at the WWE now and see what she can do their while that option is still open to her one would have to assume. She knows wrestling inside and out and is a historian of the product. She has shown she has tons of charisma being along side Rousey.

You already have her first feud written for you being the Queen of Spades why not set up a battle with the Queen of Harts in Natalya. That would have the makings of a women’s wrestling match the likes of which we have never seen potentially.

Will see if Baszler decided to stick with UFC and MMA but for my money, her next match should take place in a ring not an octagon. She is a firecracker and could easily be in position to be a challenger for someone for the Diva’s title or even work against Stephanie at Wrestlemania 31. Is all of this crazy dreaming talk? Perhaps, but Baszler would be wise to consider the option given the way her last two fights have come out.In addition while she still has the ability to have some interest from the WWE. Even if it as pawn in a slightly larger plan to get Ronda to be a part of the company down the road. Baszler realistically would be the easiest to transition straight to wrestling as she already is somewhat trained in it.

Friday, August 29, 2014

I am flying solo today with no Walder or guests just me and you for little over 30 minutes of what is on my wrestling brain on a Friday. So tune in and have a listen as I talk about William Regal and his new role on NXT, Nikki Bella's performance on Raw in addition some thoughts on ROH and TNA. Randy Savage or at least my impression of him gets a few cameo appearances too.

Back to a more traditional show next week hopefully. If you want to send well wishes to Chris Walder you can do so @Waldersports and use the #PrayforWaldersTeeth or don't. In any case look forward to having him back along side me next week for another episode of the show as we keep the streak alive this week.Hope people understand and still enjoy a much shorter episode than we normally produce.

If you have any issues accessing the podcast got direct to our hosts at Podomatic just Click Here.

Smackdown is making the move to Thursday night in October, which probably is a good thing, but day of the week is not the major issue with Smackdown. Honestly no matter what day of the week you put it on there needs to be more compelling television and it really is not. When you have already endured 3 hours of Monday Night Raw it makes investing two more hours in Smackdown quite the commitment for the average fan. Add in the fact that Smackdown is a taped show and many sites (Not This One) offer fans spoilers for Smackdown that is taped on Tuesday. Which is a problem that is faced to greater extent by both TNA and Ring of Honor that tape weeks of shows at a time. They face those challenges of spoilers to an even greater extent. The odd time spoilers can be helpful if they offer insight to a great match or angle. However most times they give people the option to seek out the information and decide to skip the show. That is why at least for this site, we have made the decision not to use them to allow you the chance to not have your viewing experience impacted on by us.

The WWE somewhere around 2010 or 11 ended the brand split that they had done in since splitting the brands somewhere around a year or two after WWE bought out WCW in effect ending the promotion and the competition. So the WWE roster became whole again with all of the talent in theory able to perform on Raw or Smackdown. Therefore, the uniqueness of the shows was lost to some extent. Even though it has been well documented that even during the brand split Smackdown was treated as the “B” brand in the WWE.

That had its downside and upside depending on how you looked at it. The major downside was the top people rarely if ever ended up on Smackdown. If a person got hot enough, they would find his way to Raw eventually. The upside was because Smackdown was more or less an after thought in comparison to Raw. It allowed things to happen that likely never would have flown on Raw. One example of that was C.M Punk’s Straight Edge Society. A highly edgy angle was the brainchild of Punk himself. Prior to that, there was the famed “Smackdown 6,” and the brilliant booking and mind of Paul Heyman writing the show. As discussed in the Heyman DVD as far as Heyman was concerned he was competing with Raw and looking to beat it on weekly basis. Something that was the same was the influence of Kevin Dunn in terms of the production of the show. This is something various people had tried to change with no success. They wanted to do this to give Smackdown its own unique look and feel to it. This is something that clearly would have been interesting to see and made the show stand out as something unique.

On a complete side note when Paul Levesque and Stephanie McMahon truly take over, it is expected one of the first moves they will make is replacing Dunn. That will be an interesting time for WWE as Dunn has been the head of production of WWE television for pretty much the entire history of Raw first going to air followed by Smackdown years later.

The point to all of this is there is truly nothing unique about the Smackdown show to any degree. It does tend to be the more wrestling based show and always has been for the most part. The problem being many of the matches we see on Smackdown will tend make their way to Raw the following week. They rarely want to do angles on Smackdown and any that they do happen to do will be highlighted on Raw to catch the audience of the true flagship program up with what they missed on Smackdown. There is no real punishment to fans for not watching Smackdown at all.

We also now have a brand in NXT that has become what Smackdown use to be to some extent. In the past Smackdown was a proving ground for talent to build up their skills in the ring and on the microphone to a lesser extent. John Cena is perhaps the best example of this it is hard to imagine that the centerpiece that now currently is the face of the company for well over a decade started on what was classed as the “B” show. However, that is what happened and we watched Cena go from being a babyface at first, to transition into his heel rapper persona, only to be so good to become a babyface using that same character. Quickly he would be shifted over to the main show but the foundation that made John Cena what he is today was built on Smackdown. There were other examples of guys that built their career on that show like Edge, Kurt Angle and a list that could go on quite long. The talent that is learning, growing, and developing their characters are doing that on NXT in Florida now.

The goal needs to be or at least should be is to give some compelling reason to make Smackdown must see television. It is not and has not been for sometime currently. As we have laid out here that is far from the easiest thing to do because of the evolution of the WWE product in a number of ways. Some might say that Smackdown’s time has come and gone. However, it is not as if the WWE is going to bring an end to Smackdown because it makes money.

I use a pro sports analogy to explain it further to drive this point home. Many older fans of professional sports will say that expansion has watered down the game and there are too many teams. So are professional sports leagues contracting or ever have contracted a franchise in their history? The answer is of course no and in fact a league like the NHL that currently has franchises that are struggling finically are talking about expansion. You see here is that evil thing about all sports and pro wrestling as well it is at the end of the day more about greed and business over the quality of the product you are producing. Quantity that creates cash will always trump the quality of the product that is being produced.

I hate to write things without offering solutions but in terms for this one, I really do not have the answers for this it. In my mind, less is more and the need for Smackdown has really gone away. The reason it was created was a high demand for wrestling content at the absolute peak of its popularity. It was also at a time when Raw was only two hours and there was no NXT let alone a show called Main Event. The WWE is never going to subscribe to the less is more philosophy anymore than the NBA, NHL, NFL or MLB is unless they were forced to do so. Look at what happened to WCW when they created Thunder it became a poor quality show that nobody watched. Only reason it survived was the company that owned WCW also owned the network it was broadcast on.

Ironic that the show named based on one of the most famous names to ever be in wrestling in The Rock has become some what of an after thought which is something it’s namesake never was to this day. If you can’t get enough wrestling in your life it is another two hours to enjoy it, but in the grand scheme of things it is not offering anything that is compelling to people that are casual fans or gives reason for new or former fans of the product to get invested into it. If I wanted to get someone to be invested in wrestling today and could not use a Raw broadcast or a pay per view, I would show them an episode of NXT that has a bunch of hungry people trying to make their way to the bright lights of Raw and the main roster. No one ever has the dream of main eventing Smackdown do they? Of course they don’t, the same way every professional wrestlers ultimate dream is to be on a Wrestlemania or main eventing one, the same is true with television. Raw is the major leagues and everything else is secondary. FYI there is a chance we may not have our weekly Podcast this week do to some circumstances beyond our control. If there is no Podcast tonight will have one for you next Friday as we normally do.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Time once again to kick it on Google Hangout with all of you with my partner in crime Josh Lopez. Today we are going talk some ROH. Along with WWE and if Josh wants to talk TNA will talk that too. Even some PWG talk with it being BOLA Weekend. We start at 7:30 PM est live so join us and take part in the action.

If you missed it live join us next week and take part in the show. You can always send us your questions #AskMachoMoon on Twitter.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

The build to Night of Champions and the re-match to John Cena and Brock Lesnar will be interesting to say the least. Lesnar says he is going to end John Cena in the match that is great wrestling hype for sure. However, news that John Cena from his own lips that his shoulder has been injured and he has been battling through it makes this take on a different meaning. News since that Cena may in fact have neck issues as well makes you wonder a few things. First on my list would be, if people were aware of this, who exactly came up with the brilliant idea of Cena taking 16 German Suplexs in the match? Is this further injury, because of that match would be another question to be asked. You can also wonder if these are in fact, legit injures or just brilliant selling that Cena physically might not be fit for this match. This would create some concern and vulnerability for the former 15-time champion heading into this re-match.

Working with Brock Lesnar is never the easiest thing to do physically in a legit sense. Brock is a monster in a real sense and does not have a history of being the safest worker for not only his opposition but also himself at times. Just minutes into one of his matches with Triple H it was said that Lesnar had rang his bell and might have suffered a concussion. If memory serves me this was at their match at Wrestlemania 29. In any case booking a less than 100% Cena in a match with Brock Lesnar with shoulder and neck issues assuming they are legit injuries is just tempting fate.

This is the best argument for why the WWE booking Cena stronger than everyone else has never been a great idea. When Cena in effect makes opposition look weak and takes away from them while building him up it does them no favors. The latest example the beating he put on Bray Wyatt to restore Cena after the royal ass whipping he took at Summerslam. Bray might be in some hot water, as it seems his feud with Jericho may in fact not go to a third match and more and more people are starting to question his ability to have good matches and get himself over beyond his promos and entrance.

We had a glimpse of the WWE without John Cena when he was forced to walk away for what was at the time expected to be 6 months after losing to Daniel Bryan at Summerslam. After which the company seemed unwilling to legitimize him as the top guy in Cena’s absence. Cena would make one of his miraculous recoveries and be back in about 2 and half months from injury. He would win the World Championship and have a unification match with Randy Orton to close out 2013. Bryan it appears may have avoided a second surgery and could be on the road to a return sooner than it was originally feared. WWE might need him if Cena is taken out of the game after this re-match with Brock Lesnar.

It is going to be interesting if we end up with Brock as champion and Cena potentially out with an injury coming out of Night of Champions. Many already wonder how the WWE will adjust without having a Champion on T.V all the time and not at all on house shows. Now add losing the face of the company in John Cena to that, it could be a one-two punch that would not be best for business at all.

Dean Ambrose who many would argue is the most "over" superstar is off doing a movie but should be back if not for Night of Champions soon after. Even though in storyline, Dean is portrayed as being out indefinitely. Roman Reigns is still trying to deal with the weight of expectations about him being deemed the next one to replace Cena. He is not ready to handle that at this point in the view of majority of wrestling journalists and fans as well. Seth Rollins has the Money in the Bank briefcase but as long as Brock is champion it makes the concept of him cashing in and winning seem highly unlikely.

There is a theory John Cena would beat Lesnar, but be so beaten down that Rollins would cash in on him and win the championship. I find that hard to believe, it would take away the whole idea of Brock being the man that ended Undertaker’s streak and someone by beating him getting something out of that. This is what most feel is something they want for Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 31. If Reigns is not ready to be champion, I have a hard time making the case for Seth Rollins to be. No question as far as an in-ring worker is concerned he is ready. That said his performance in promos still leaves a great deal to be desired. I can’t see this idea having any merit. However, WWE has done stupider things its history.

There is never a good time to have injuries let alone to the guy you have built the company around for last 12 years more or less. You add in the WWE still struggling to get this WWE Network to a place where it can be profitable it becomes an even bigger issue.

No one should be crying tears for the folks at WWE though as they have made choices that have put themselves in this position. How many times have we said over the past several years that various guys were on a path to be main event level stars only to have the WWE’s booking take it all away? Cesaro is an example of a guy that was positioned to make that step up the ladder coming out of Wrestlemania only to have him taken back down the ladder. He is just one of many examples you could point too.

There has been a lot of talk in recent months of internal struggle between Paul Lévesque and Vince McMahon over creative. At some point Vince is going to have to trust in the future that Paul Levesque as created for this company. If he fails to do so and longer he continues to rely on the old guard the more difficult the transition will be to a new era for the company beyond John Cena and the stars left from the past like Randy Orton, Big Show and Kane.

It is vital and trick to make this transition at the same time this company is trying to redefine how it does business for the next generation at the very same time. Making the transition from the pay-per-view era to this bold new Network era that may be an idea that is a little ahead of it’s time. Regardless, the WWE can’t turn back now and must stay committed to this bold new business model. While at the same time, have faith in the investment they have made in their developmental system with the performance center and their partnership with Full Sail University. This is the first steps in seeing the investment in the NXT brand coming to the main stage. Not showing faith in that system and the talent it is creating would be a massive mistake and one this company can’t afford to make.

There is a lot at stake and regardless of what the plan is on paper the signs in reality are starting to show that John Cena does not have many days left on top on the WWE Mountain. At least not in the current position, he holds now as the main attraction and face of the company. Be it the company’s choice, Cena’s, or both the idea of not having him transition to a heel character is also limiting his longevity to being a draw for the product even if they fail to see that. The WWE is a company that can come up with ideas like the WWE Network that are truly revolutionary despite the lack of success they have had no one debates it is the future for content. While at the same time, they seem to cling to nostalgia and end up being stuck in the past in terms of creative. It is time for the WWE roster to represent that same forward thinking that their business model truly is. Even if it might take a hit of the start as the WWE Network has, it is worth it for the long term and overall growth and future of the product.

Cena’s time is no longer now it is time for change in fact that change is long overdue. This is not to say that anyone should want to wish ill will to Cena and his heath and well-being. If he were to take the time and heal up it might be the best thing forever one including him and his own longevity at the end of the day.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Vince McMahon is 69 today and still by all accounts firmly has a grip on control of his company World Wrestling Entertainment. Many feel this will be the case until the day he dies and it seems morbid to talk about but what will be the WWE’s future with out him in the company by choice or by death. There have been many reports of him and his son-in-law Paul Lévesque clashing on various talents and the direction of where to take storylines and pushing of talents. This is all speculation based on the rumour mill, but it would explain some of the strange things we have seen with wrestlers being pushed one week and jobbed out the next. There has not been a lot of continuity in terms that with certain talents. Cesaro is one name that leaps to mind.

Seems the biggest obstacle the two have is their views on Roman Reigns as the next face of the company. Vince is not sold on the idea where Triple H is all in on it and has used his own in-ring persona to help that along. The Shield is likely the centerpiece of a WWE Creative with Paul Levesque having the final call. They are the first three guys he stuck his neck out for and brought up from when he took over developmental. Triple H often refers to the people coming out of NXT as his kids. He really gets that invested in these talents and The Shield is like his first-born Triplets.

WWE Magazine released the cover of its final edition and many would say fittingly it had the three members of the former group known as the Shield on the cover. Asking the question of who would be first to grab the WWE World Heavyweight Championship? Ambrose predicted at the end of a documentary done on the group that the future of the WWE runs through them as the collective threesome that was and in some ways will always be The Shield.

You can argue that Vince as great as he has been has somewhat lost his “Midas Touch” for understanding what fans want. At least in terms of his core audience, that was a fact C.M Punk made pretty publicly as part of an angle with him leaving the company. This ironically is something that he has done in real life some three years later. Funny that is seemed the main advocate to keeping Punk appeared to be Vince McMahon. It seems an odd pairing in so many ways, but Punk I guess was the one guy that would push Vince’s buttons and give him a fight. Something that Vince is said to love and thrive on is the idea of conflict and competition. This likely explains why some of the best work from Vince McMahon came with his back up against the wall in the Monday Night Wars.

Some might say the WWE is in its weakest position since that time in some regards. The WWE Network was a massive undertaking and risk for the company. Something that is clearly floundering and still is to a great degree. Turning the price of their network into a punch line for wrestling fans might not have been “Best for Business” when all is said and done. Still the company despite big losses this year has responded with job cuts and is keeping the suits and ties on Wall Street happy to a degree. There ability to keep their customers happy is another issue and one that seems to be a real hit and miss affair from week to week. Heck, sometimes even on a day-to-day basis with this company. They did have a widely successful Summerslam, which they needed badly. Now the question is will they commit to this vision and see it through to Wrestlemania 31. All indications are they will at least for now. Keep in mind the plan last year got totally derailed at the Royal Rumble.

What the ultimate difference will be with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in charge not just on television but in reality remains to be seen. Vince has clearly taken steps backwards allowing Paul and Stephanie to be front and center for major events these days. This is something that started it would appear with the launch of the Performance Center. This has been a project that is Paul’s vision and from conception to completion. His work in the building of that and the creating of the brand NXT has larger been Paul working primarily on his own. You can see the difference in the NXT product as compared to the Raw product. It might also explain why the bumpy transition for a great many NXT talent to the main roster with Vince being added to the mix and him not being high on some of the characters that Triple H is. Some notable ones that come to mind are Paige and Bo Dallas. \

Therefore, if you want to know what the WWE will be like when Vince is dead good idea is to watch NXT. Where as C.M Punk referenced him in his famous promo the “dufus son-in-law” runs things. As for his idiotic daughter Stephanie there is little question she has stepped into the evil shoes of her father on camera. In terms of behind the scenes, she really has become the face of the company in the corporate sense. Her title is something to the effect of brand ambassador. A role that she is equally as good at even though it may come off as very sappy and disingenuous to wrestling fans.

It was confirmed over the weekend that Smackdown would be making to move to Thursdays, as Vince McMahon does not fear the NFL as TNA likely does and should. Heck Vince was the crazy guy that started the XFL...remember that? Actually Vince would rather you forgot as well as the failed WBF the World Body Building Federation. He lost his company’s name to a bunch of animal loving hippies in the World Wildlife Fund. The point is Vince despite how he tries to come off has not always hit home runs with everything. In terms of the stuff involving just the wrestling aspects Vince has been very successful and basically has created his empire as the one true giant national promotion left standing.

He is a very interesting character from all accounts of anyone that has had dealings with him. Some of the things that seem to be commonly agreed on about Vince are that the WWE is in fact his life he really does not have hobbies or anything aside from working out. He also is awake to all hours of the night and is available to people almost literally on a 24-hour basis. They say you have to be a little crazy to be a genius and Vince McMahon fits that description. There is no Vince McMahon story that I would hear that I would not at lest consider it to be true given the nature of Vince.

If there is one thing, above all else about Vince McMahon that we have learned it is that he is willing to work with anyone if it means making a profit at the end of the day. Some people that have had the most bitter of break-ups with Vince have eventually always been welcomed back with open arms when it made sense for business. Some that comes to mind that truly shocked the world was the appearance of Eric Bischoff in the WWE. This being the man that tried to put Vince out of business with Ted Turner’s money. The one that we likely never saw happening was Bret Hart returning after he was screwed in Montreal and punched out McMahon in the aftermath. Nevertheless, he came back as well to do business with Vince some dozen years later. Will C.M Punk be the one that does not and stays away? Vince McMahon has taught us to believe in never say never when it comes to the WWE.

A legacy that Triple H has started to continue by bringing back a legend in Bruno Sammartino to the fold to be inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame and this past year the Ultimate Warrior. Some of Vince has clearly rubbed of on Paul and the amount of respect both Paul and Stephanie have for him is likely higher than anyone else has on earth.

One thing that will be a major change when the day comes that Vince McMahon no longer in charge will be with WWE production. Kevin Dunn is loved by some by hated by many more and has been Vince McMahon’s chief butt kisser for years. He is said to be out once Vince turns over the reigns completely to Stephanie and Paul. That might be the most interesting change the WWE has seen in a long time the day it happens. Dunn has been in charge of Raw and Smackdown from basically the start.

It seems as if we are talking about the demise of Vince in this piece but let us face it this is a guy that beat the U.S government and brags about it. He in storyline invented his own religion and challenged God and Shawn Michaels. Slowing down let alone death are not likely words in his vocabulary despite having his own death that never was followed up on in storyline. The Limo that blew up but I am sure Vince would have ended up returning from the dead as only he and the Undertaker can.

In any case, love him or hate him he is the guy that built this business to what it is today so I wish him a Happy Birthday and many more. He has created a world that I have followed since my childhood, which is something that he has done for millions like me around the globe.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

It would appear that the 16 time and 15 time Champions are going to kick-off Monday Night Raw together. Ric Flair has always been a Cena buddy even behind the scenes and it looks like he will be out there with him as Cena makes his first public comments since getting totally beaten down. Here is the tweet from Flair announcing this news:

Ric Flair has been used in a number of segments with no real defined role on the show. You have to wonder how long they can keep this up. Triple H has always been a huge supporter of Flair and it is not like he is going to tell him to go away.

Friday, August 22, 2014

When this started I was a basketball guy who happened to be a wrestling fan that had decided to change what I cover and turned my attention to covering wrestling. Chris Walder was willing to come along on this crazy ride with me. 25 shows in we have had on some wrestling champions, a 20 year plus employee of the WWE and some great wrestling journalists. All of this along with myself and Chris offering are opinions too. So let's crank it up and look back at Summerslam along with latest with TNA and ROH this week.

If you have been with us from the start I really on behalf of myself and Chris thank you for listening. I would ask you to spread the word so we can grow our audience and have more loyal great listeners like you. If your new to our show thanks as well and go check out our past shows we think you'll enjoy them. Will be back to do it all again next week.

If you can't listen via our website to the podcast head over to our podcast hosts Podomatic and listen there.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

All the news of the week and some thoughts on Summerslam and Night of Champions as well. ROH wise we look ahead to the I-PPV in Toronto as well as Death Before Dishonor in Josh's neck of the woods. All this and more TNA news as they still have a pulse and even for a little longer now. Join us live at 7:30 eastern.

Thanks for watching and next time if you want to do it live were here every Thursday at 7:30 eastern.

Sometimes I have a hard time understanding wrestling fans to a degree. It has been a constant theme for years now, of fans wanting change so younger talent has chance to run with the ball. I understand that point and am a firm believer in that concept. Here is what I don’t understand is how many of these same people will be nostalgic to want to see guys like Kurt Angle or Bully Ray another run in WWE? Why on earth should we do such a thing? I am tired of the lifetime achievement runs for people. I will even go as far as saying I do not need to see Hulk Hogan ever again on my television screen. The fact that he got mad by Brock Lesnar calling him grandpa I find very hilarious. Will someone please inform Mr. Hogan that he is 61 years old? Can they also let him know that in reality he is the only one that wants to see him wrestle another match? I get some people actually would not be opposed to it, but it would be for some selfish reason to relive something that frankly does not exist anymore That's right Hulk-a-Maina is dead as far as in the ring wrestling matches. Sorry to break the news to all of you out there that were holding out hope for another Hogan title run.

This also applies to Sting for me as well. I personally could give a damn if he ever wrestles a match in the WWE. In some ways, I would think of him as a complete sell-out jerk for doing so. I admired that Sting stayed away from the WWE, went out on his sword so to speak with WCW, choosing to go on to TNA instead of the WWE. Here is the fact of the matter, I do not need to see a guy in his mid-50's taking a spot from a guy in his 20’s at Wrestlemania. I need that guy in his 20’s to have that match at Wrestlemania so he can have that big match in his 30’s when that guy in his 50’s could be dead in the ground, but sure as hell not wrestling. Even Ric Flair who I love a great deal I would never want to see in a match now. His time has passed a long time ago.

You as a wrestling fan need to decide do you want change or do you want to re-live your history. If you want to re-live history there is this great thing called the WWE Network and I don't know if your aware, but it only costs $9.99. There is a place for history in the modern product. What we saw at this past Wrestlemania with Hogan, Austin and Rock was a cool way to acknowledge history and get the same pops as you would booking any of them in a match. In the proper place, it is very cool to look back on history. It just is not in a ring with a match with a guy 20-30 years past his best days. That is not helping advance the business it is merely feeding someone’s personal ego and the fans that are willing to turn a blind eye and just cheer for the nostalgia and not see the flaws in an old stale act.

You can’t be an advocate for change with one hand and demand nostalgia with other. It is by its very nature counter productive. There are odd exceptions to every rule and one that springs to mind is Randy Orton’s legend killer gimmick. Still even in that very few of those famous things involved matches. A couple exceptions were a match with Hulk Hogan and a match with Mick Foley. This is a great two guys to contrast how a legend should be used. In the end, Foley went into it with the mindset of his match with Orton to make Randy a star and take Randy to a new level with fans in terms of Orton’s toughness and ability to be evil. Mick succeeded in that goal. Hogan meanwhile had no care for Orton as much as he did himself looking good in the match. That is always Hogan’s concern and it has never changed. He only puts "over" people when he is forced into it by circumstance or situation. Hogan’s concern was Hogan, not the future of this young kid who was going on to be a huge star for the company. Many of the other legend killer things were just great segments like the time Orton spit in the face of the legend Harley Race. No match happened but that act was so disrespectful it accomplished the goal.

I found it completely amusing that Triple H of all people was being painted as the bad guy for not wanting Angle back. If you pay attention to the behind, the scenes at all, Triple H said years ago that WWE had zero interest in anyone involved in TNA at the time. So why this is a newsflash to anyone I really can’t say. Now technically Sting was in the company at the time I believe, so WWE did fudge the truth in Triple H’s statement a little, but for the most part WWE feels it does not need anything TNA has.

Why they feel that way is to the credit of Triple H who has totally over hauled the developmental system of this company to create the brand NXT and the performance center in Florida. They have some incredible and younger talent there that is just waiting for the chance to get to the main roster. Why should Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville, Tyler Breeze or a number of others wait while a Kurt Angle or Bubba Ray gets to do some pointless victory lap?

Are you for change or are you not. Anyone that is for both is like it or not a hypocrite.

You have thoughts on this or any other wrestling subject? Send us your questions and feedback on Twitter to #Askmachomoon or join us live at 7:30 EST for Hangin on the Moon here and on You-Tube and Google Hangout.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Summerslam at least gave the illusion that things have changed with Brock Lesnar’s domination of John Cena. Last night it was announced on Main Event and on WWE.com that John Cena is invoking his re-match clause to get his re-match for the title at Night of Champions.

I firmly believe the only way you can make this match compelling and make people believe Cena stands a chance at all is to make this match an “I Quit Match,” that has yet to have been stipulated but this is the only thing that makes any sense after the complete domination of Cena at Summerslam. There are seeds planted to make this match as well with during the match having Brock tell the referee Charles Robinson to ask Cena if he quits on several occasions. In addition, in Paul Heyman’s speech he talked about John Cena’s not quitting during the match along with how he refused to die.

So, in the end if this is the match, have we actually turned that corner to change? Will the WWE allow Brock Lesnar to take away the one thing John Cena has left in his ability to never give up and build up Brock even stronger to be the most dominate champion the WWE has seen since perhaps Hulk Hogan? For two very different reasons mind you, but that same unbeatable nature.

Alternatively, will the WWE go back to good old Johnny, as Brock is likely under his current deal going to be off television for some time after Night of Champions? If Cena wins back the championship, it would be significant, not just for what it will mean for the direction of the company, but for wrestling history. Cena would tie the mythological number of 16 times, as a World Champion held by Ric Flair. While Flair would not be upset by this in the least, fans might not share his opinion. The reality is Flair may be an 18-21 time champion according to someone like Dave Meltzer who has covered the sport since back in the 70’s.

It also would be giving fans the double bird in some respect by giving the title back to Cena on several levels. Not to mention the title of beating the man that took Undertaker’s streak and being the guy to beat that man going to John Cena. Why on earth would you do that? Cena goes on to be billed as the greatest World Champion of all-time. It would just be an Anti-Cena fan nightmare.

Factor in the WWE Network and people looking to re-subscribe for another six months may not know whom the company is going with between Cena and Lesnar. It like makes those people sit back and wait to see who actually wins at Night of Champions before they decide? If the WWE is going all in for Brock and hoping that will save the Network are they willing to make Cena the sacrificial lamb.

Let us look at this objectively even if you can’t stand Cena. He does sell a lot of merchandise and it is on foundation of his credo of hustle, loyalty and respect. Like the Hogan mantra of train, say your prayers and take your vitamins a fourth was added. In the case of Hogan, it was “believe in yourself.” For Cena that fourth has been “Never Give Up.” While we may scoff at it all, there is no question that never give up mantra has been adopted by children fighting life threatening diseases and this goes to the core of John Cena’s ties to “Make-A-Wish” children. While it will be part of a script, can we honestly see John Cena give up? It is a problem but one wrestling has given us an answer for in history. To have Cena be completely knocked out and unable to say the words would allow Brock to get a dominating win, but Cena still able to save face for all the people that support him and believe in his credos.

Still as much as we thought, Summerslam marked a change as we did last year with Daniel Bryan being placed as the top “babyface” in the company. It would not be the rise that people had hoped for him. It had stops & starts and Daniel never giving the chance to take advantage of a time without Cena around due to injury. Here we sit again thinking we could have had a real cosmic change to the WWE, but it can all be taken away at Night of Champions and lead to more of the same.

It is quite brilliant in a way to have some real interest in a match that was so one sided in the first match. Anything other than going in this, “I Quit’ direction makes no sense to me at all. It is the only way to me you can justify this re-match at this point.

Cena vs. Lesnar in the legit rubber match with both has a win. It is Brock vs. Cena III for all the marbles and the future of the WWE on the line.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Brock vs Cena III is on for Night of Champions as WWE.Com is reporting as breaking news. Cena will take his shot at tying the record of Ric Flair in being a 16-time World Champion. The re-match will go down on September 21st. I had speculated in podcast on Between the Ropes that I expected this re-match between the two. I had speculated this will be some form of "I Quit" match which has yet to be announced. Cena is expected to appear on Raw next Monday while Brock is not booked to appear until the Monday prior to Night of Champions.

Will see what happens with the making of this match but the match is set and as it is spelled out with Cena using his re-match clause that makes the idea of Lesnar rejected the match not really an option. After his domination of Cena it would be highly unlikely he would want to though. This is why I expect Cena to drop the bombshell of the stipulation on Raw next week. Paul Heyman in his epic promo in praising Cena mention his undying spirit and unwillingness to quit. It all makes sense and gives you reason to believe either man could win after that epic one-sided beat-down.

For now we know we have a re-match and will see if it can draw the same interest as the original match that seemed to have a real buzz attached to it.

It was a much-anticipated Raw coming off a very memorable Summerslam. In the end, the show had a few highlights but did not seem to live up to hype unlike Summerslam. The show boiled down to three big things. It was a strange Vegas crowd that cheered Ryback in a six-man tag to insane levels.

The show opened with Stephanie coming out to Daniel Bryan’s music in her new Steph! Steph! Steph! T-Shirt. She talked about how great Summerslam was and bragged about her victory over Brie Bella. She said that she did not do it alone and thanked her husband Triple H for his love and support. She than introduced Nikki Bella and invited her to come out to the ring.

Nikki has her shoe come off and then has her microphone not work when she starts to cut her big heel turn moment. Nikki tries to explain why she turned on her sister. I thought Nikki was slightly better than Brie. In any case Brie would come out and say Nikki is breaking up their family and Nikki eventually slaps Brie and she goes crying to the back. For better or worse and honestly I am leaning to worse the Bella vs. Bella feud is underway. May the Lord help us all that we survive this one!

Brock Lesnar is presented with a brand new WWE Title that features the New WWE Logo that debuted on this show. Triple H and Stephanie were out to reveal the new title and present it to Brock Lesnar. He and Heyman come out and he is given the belt. All four pose for pictures on each side of the ring like Hulk Hogan use to do cupping his hand to the ear back in the day to all sides of the ring.

Triple H and Steph would exit and Paul Heyman would cut an epic promo that would just continue to keep his streak of great promo work in tact. Heyman attempts to put over John Cena and even claims his only children are John Cena fans, which makes him sick. He does a recap of the match by repeating Suplex and repeat. It was just another epic Paul Heyman promo. It is fair to say that Paul Heyman has been the performer of the year to this point. Given the lack of appearances the New Champion, we should see a lot more of Heyman moving forward.

Last and not least earlier in the night, Seth Rollins is doing an interview with Renee Young and is showered with ice water. He turns around to see Dean Ambrose and Ambrose has a strange look on his face. Ambrose says what it is for charity and than smashes, the bucket in his face and fight breaks out.

This enraged Rollins who went to Triple H demanding that they do something to take care of Ambrose once and for all. Triple H who was talking to Kane at the time tells Rollin to relax that they were going to make a match for tonight and allow the fans to pick the stipulation. That way the blood of Ambrose would be on their hands.

In the end fans would pick a falls count anywhere match that was as crazy and wild as you night expect. These two went all over the place and perhaps topped their match the prior night. The match would end with Ambrose getting curb stomped into cinder blocks of cement and knocked Ambrose out which caused the ref to call for the bell. Kane assisted Rollins by holding Ambrose down to allow the stomp on the cement. In reality Dean Ambrose is off to do a movie so this was a nice way to go out with a great match and a legitimate explanation as to why you are out for a long period of time.

Aside from these three big parts of the show, it seems we are starting a Bo Dallas vs. Swagger feud and Rusev vs. Mark Henry feud as well. Bo came out and said Swagger let down America lost his manager but do not lose hope you just have to Bolieve. While Henry came out, challenged Rusev, and brought up his experience as an Olympian and being disgusted by what he saw last night on Summerslam.

There was some other stuff, nothing that blew you away. It was a decent Raw but might have not lived up to the hype of a hot Summerslam. We are promised a John Cena return next week. I have a theory that we are going to see a Cena vs. Lesnar re-match at Night of Champions that I feel will be an I Quit match. I gave further explanation to my thoughts on this in the Post Show of Summerslam for Between the Ropes on Sunday night.

Will see if that is where we are heading Brock will not be on Raw; next week so will see what happens.

Monday, August 18, 2014

This is pretty epic and you got to hand it to Stephanie McMahon she took the Ice Bucket Challenge and was iced by Ronda Rousey and the 4 horsewomen. In her wrestling outfit from last night no less. Roll the video footage:

Ronda Rousey and he 4 horsewomen were all over the place last night and Summerslam and Rousey if you didn't catch it was flashed the 4 horsewomen/men sign from Steph and was wearing Bray Wyatt's hat when appearing on Camera. Jon Jones who recently had his fight scrapped with Daniel Cormier was also there and sent out a video via Instagram with the New WWE and Former UFC Champion Brock Lesnar.

Wonder what Dana White is thinking about all of this. Rousey even did an interview with WWE.com as well.To quote the great philosopher George Costanza WORLD'S ARE COLLIDING!!! Let the speculation begin on if Rousey appears at Wrestlemania (as mentioned by Stephanie above that will take place in the Bay area in Northern California at Levi's Stadium in Apri)l.

Summerslam is in the books time to dream ahead to Wrestlemania 31 and come up with five matches we expect to be on the card. So ready…set…here we go. 1. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns: Not a very bold pick to start with but the most obvious pick to be made. Even the most obvious selection has its risks to it. An injury a sudden change in direction like the one we saw last year with Daniel Bryan. Someone is getting a shot at Lesnar at Mania and I expect him to still be champion at the time so Reigns is the one to beat one that conquered the streak of The Undertaker. I think the biggest obstacle to us not seeing the match is Reigns development and if people high up in the company are not happy with it. A potential show down with Triple H could put any such questions to bed one way or the other. Daniel Bryan in an interview with Brian Fritz expressed his desire to mix it up with Lesnar at some point when he returns. Reigns could end up in the role of Batista, which in the WWE this January was not a fun role to have. 2. Stephanie McMahon vs. A.J Lee: This is my pipe dream fantasy that I believe is going to happen. Mainly because it would have a real element of real life, drama given the husbands of the two ladies involved. There is one no one expects to be back, in the company any time soon if at all. Instead of fight, those CM Punk chants why not embrace them head on with this feud. Stephanie is without equal on the microphone in this company. If anyone were going to give her a competitive battle, it would be A.J Lee, who is very skilled in her own right. In ring, Steph can be cared to a much better match than she had with Brie at Summerslam. A.J could be on the outs with WWE like her husband and decide to leave. Still I think this is a feud worth sticking around for A.J. As strange and ironic as this is A.J has talked about Steph being one of her idols. If that remains true based on the battles her husband has had with the company and Steph who knows if this is still true. Fans would eat this up and way more than they did Steph and Brie or a potential. Bella vs. Bella match. If you want to take this to the total next level, how about a guest referee of Ronda Rousey? That is the cheery on top of the dream sundae. I BOlieve in this match strongly.

3. Sting vs. Triple H: I know it is not the Undertaker. I think the deadman is done and so in his place will be Triple H to take on Sting. This will upset Dave Batista that has been vocal of the idea of ending his in-ring career with a Mania program with Triple H. Question becomes, which is the bigger draw as an option. I think the never seen Sting against Triple H match might make the most sense. In the end, people are excited about Sting and even if I do not get it, I can’t deny it. When asked if Sting could not get his dream opposition in Taker, he suggested the name Triple H and I think that could easily happen. 4. John Cena vs. Rusev: It seems somewhat dumb and a waste of Cena to a degree, but no more than it would be to see him against Hogan. Something that Hogan has been hinting about the fact he would want to do it. America was brought to disgrace at Summerslam and now the closest thing to an American Hero we have in John Cena is going to save the U.S.A. Maybe Hogan can be involved by having Rusev attack him and John Cena coming to the rescue. Cheesy but everything about this match will be I believe.

5. Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro: I think Bryan is far outside of the title picture when he comes back. So why not pair him with someone that will give you a match that is out of this world. It is better than Bryan vs. Sheamus III or IV, I have lost count. So if Bryan is healthy this should be a solid contest to watch. You can build up what both did at last Wrestlemania to make them look like two big stars battling it out to get back to the top.

So those are 5 matches we are predicting Wrestlemania 31 will see how we do. It is always fun to speculate to the future and many people seem to love this type of thing. So will see if any of these matches even happen.

It is so rare that a match in the WWE these days feels like something fresh with two long-standing characters. Just one of about a hundred reasons you could list for why Brock vs. Cena is a compelling match-up. Brock stating that he plans to practically commit a homicide on John Cena does not hurt either. All of this said what has made this feud is one man; his name is Paul Heyman. The promo work done by Heyman in the build up to this feud has been some of, if not the best of his long career in wrestling. He sold this match the night after “Battleground” and it has only been expanded upon since.

Brock Lesnar’s next loss needs to be to someone this company is going to be banking on for the next 10 years. John Cena is not that guy. If he is that guy, I am not sure I could survive that. Realistically though the WWE thinks, they have found that guy in Roman Reigns. He needs to be the one that beats the one for the future of not just him but this company as a whole. If Brock does indeed win you will need to re-educate fans to a new era where the champ isn’t here. WWE should not “hot shot” Reigns to win the belt but wait until Wrestlemania 31. Given Brock limited schedule that will mean very little of the WWE World Heavyweight Champion being seen. This is not a bad thing as Paul Heyman proved keeping Brock’s accomplishment of beating the Undertaker alive for months. He can do the same for the “NEW” WWE Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar.

A lot of futures are tied into this match and it's result and the direction we take come out of it. First and foremost might be the impact on the WWE Network in a positive or negative way. Fans are ready to see Lesnar be champion and want to see it happen. Be damned the circumstances to that anyone but John Cena is pleasing to a majority of the audience. Right now the WWE needs a happy core fanbase that will buy the network and spread the word.

If the WWE tries to be cute with this it will blow up in their face. People want Cena beaten down and Lesnar to stand victorious and add in the fact you have the majority of your subscribers coming up to renew. You need to book to keep those people happy and give them a reason to do so.

I look forward to Summerslam on the whole we have had from top to bottom a card that has had angles booked around all the matches on the card. You may not like all the angles but you have been given something to but into or reject.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

The Paige and A.J feud as far as I am concerned has failed to live up to the mass amount of hype people had for it when it started. This whole pretending to be friends and actually enemies this was and is ridiculous. That said Paige going heel was badly required. It has really been revitalization her and almost gave her a do-over from her original debut as babyface that was awful. A.J on the other hand is not exactly looking like much of a baby face in her actions. In the end, it doesn’t matter much.

This feud has been badly overshadowed by the Brie and Stephanie feud and despite being for the title I would bet they do not get as much match time as Steph and Brie match is given. Should be a better match with these two time restraints or not. These two are starting to develop some chemistry to some extent.

Why I feel A.J is on a different level and deserves to keep her championship. I feel for the sake of extending the feud Paige is going to win the title. I can’t see anyone positioned to jump into this feud for the Diva’s Championship.

Another thing this feud has lacked is time invested in it is build that again is because of all the time being invested in Stephanie and Brie. Second fiddle all around is this feud and it should not be in one sense being for the title. It is easy to understand why it has been with the return to the ring of Stephanie McMahon who has not wrestled in a WWE ring in over a decade.

I still think that at the end of the day we could see Stephanie to return to face A.J Lee in a match that takes place at Wrestlemania. It makes a lot of sense if WWE is willing to make it happen.

In terms of the Diva’s Title, it is not looking good being booked below Steph but it is only for one show and it understandable.

This match wise has the chance to be the best of the encounters between Paige and A.J where neither girl should have to hold back for storyline purposes and can just go at it. If this is not the best women’s in-ring match of the night it would be quite a surprise but fans are not as invested as they are in the Steph and Brie feud even despite the bad booking on Monday.

So that is it will finish up are Summerslam Previews before Sundays show.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Another Week of Hangin on the Moon and more breaking news hours before the show. This time it is about TNA. No they have not closed yet but Spike-TV who has been rumoured to be giving them the boot in October is moving them to Wednesday Night's. To review TNA has now been on Saturday, Monday, Thursday and Wednesday all with pretty much the same results. Also Summerslam is this week and will look at the card coming up on Sunday with myself and Josh Lopez coming up at 7:30 (Eastern). Watch it below or click and join the Google Hangout live and we can make you part of the show with your questions.

We have been busy giving you in-depth previews for Summerslam so after the show go have a look at all the matches we have previewed so far.

You’re a company that has been told you are no longer welcome to be on a network and are praying you can find someone dumb enough to have you on the air who are you? If you said TNA, you are correct and the ostrich of the wrestling business is for around the millionth time saying they have big news to announce. Can we have a drum roll please? No can’t afford it due to budget cuts…Oh well here is the alleged BIG NEWS!

Therefore, Impact that if you have not been living under a Rock is expected to be given the boot by Spike-TV in October is now getting an early boot to another night on Spike. No word as to why perhaps Bar Rescue needed to be shown on a different night and get the strong lead in of Cops.

If we did not know, TNA’s issues with Spike on might see this as a smart or reactionary move with Smackdown rumoured to be returning to Thursday nights. In addition, the NFL is almost a month away and is expanding its Thursday night games to CBS this season. Whatever the case TNA tries to present this as their choice but let’s be honest, they have about as much leverage with Spike-TV as the WWE has with stopping its fans from chanting CM Punk during an A.J Lee match. TNA also has missed the boat on now Ex-WWE Star Alberto Del Rio who is apparently going to join AAA wrestling the Mexican promotion that Konan is booking for and has its own plans to enter the U.S market sometime this year.

Therefore, TNA continues to fade away even if they are not willing to admit it. Not exactly, breaking news is it. There has been an improvement in the product according to folks that still bother to watch it but it likely is a case of too little too late. I am sure the million or so loyal TNA watchers will figure out the show is on Wednesdays and not just gone. That said for the casual TNA viewer if there is such a thing they might assume it is gone.

Will have our thoughts on our Video Podcast coming up at 7:30 tonight.

Earlier today, we had our preview of Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella coming up at Summerslam this Sunday. In that I mentioned the amount of work Stephanie had done with her husband’s personal trainer over the past few years. Now the WWE comes out with this video much as they do when Paul (Triple H) is having a big match of Stephanie in intense training. Have a look for yourself below:

This to me makes two clear points about this upcoming match. One is obvious in that Stephanie McMahon is taking this very seriously. Those who expect this match to fail to be good may end up being very surprised. I have always been under the impression that it will be. The second and maybe not quite as obvious is how the WWE is really treating this match like the Co-Main Event of Summerslam. They even have come out with merchandise that mocks Daniel Bryan’s Yes! Yes! Yes! T-Shirt’s with Steph having here own shirt in the same design and colors saying Steph! Steph! Steph! This is something here Brother Shane would often do when he had matches making parody shirts of his opponents back in the day. I do not remember if the WWE ever sold those but they are selling these ones with Stephanie. This is a great way to use up some of those shirts that would have been going to Daniel Bryan fans. A move that you could say is “Best for Business,” or maybe not.

In any case the WWE seems to be all in on this feud being a success. We will be having are live google hangout at 7:30 PM (Eastern) as myself and Josh Lopez will be talking all things wrestling so come back to the site and join us live.

The classic wrestling angle of the evil foreigner and the baby face American. It is as old as wrestling itself or so it seems. The latest version trying to cash in on this classic angle has been the feud between Jack Swagger and Rusev with their respective mangers Zeb Colter and Lana. In many respects, this feud has been made by the mangers with the wrestlers more in the background.

The Rusev arrival from NXT to get him to the point we find ourselves now has been a rocky road. He started, as the Bulgarian Brute and transitioned into being from Russia as go figure people hate Russia more than Bulgaria. Let us be honest, there are many things about this feud that could not have been foreseen.

It probably begins with Jack Swagger being turned baby face along with Zeb Colter. They have been booked as radical tea party like supporters that had very controversial opinions on America. Unexpectedly they come out and confront the evil foreigners and instantly they were turned. It kept with their logic as heels to come out and confront Lana and Rusev.

The real life issues involving Russia and their involvement in Ukraine and the downing of a commercial airliner. Lana referenced the tragic event in a promo on the last WWE pay-per-view. It was just a comment about people blaming Russia for “recent events in the world” and it was wrong. It caused a backlash in mainstream media that threaten this feud. This was set up with match between the two ending in a countdown out victory for Rusev leading to this flag match at Summerslam.

In the end, the WWE weathered the storm issuing a very sarcastic apology and moved forward with their plans for these two. It does remind me of the situation the WWE landed them in with Slaughter vs. Hogan angle that started just prior to the first Iraq war. This angle is walking a line that is similar in nature. . Let us hope for peace and not war and this angle to continue being totally secondary to that.

In any case, this is a feud that deserved to continue as Zeb and Lana have more than done their share as the soundtrack to this feud. While Rusev and Swagger both who lack the microphone skills are a good match-up in the ring. This is a feud that honestly shows you the value of some performers need for having a manager that can do their talking for them. Makes total sense that an Old School angle would point out one of the other aspects of Old School wrestling that can still work today.

You also have Lana who has become the pin-up girl for the WWE despite her less than American values of her character. Zeb has become the American patriot all of the sudden for America to rally behind.

The outcome has been fairly predictable in this one as America always wins in the end in the WWE. Nothing a crowd of Americans especially wrestling fans love to do more than chant U-S-A. People claiming Jack Swagger is over and this has made him might be going too far. Ultimately, though a win here will help him a great deal.

In contrast Rusev does not have to be pinned to win a “flag match” if it is done in the last version of this we have seen it just takes claiming the flag off a pole. Therefore, he remains strong to some extent. Which is perfect wrestling booking, in which the match harms no one and everyone should come out stronger on the other side.

So America have fun chanting U-S-A like Hacksaw Jim Duggan for 2014. Rusev can be your Volfoff but Lana is in no way resembling Classy Freddie Blassie or Slick. Which males from all nations are thankful for that!